Rocco wrote:The rotation is questionable. The bullpen looks like it may be a disaster.

I think the bullpen will be adequate, the rotation looks like there's more uncertainty/chance for disaster.

Leroux's velocity is down. Gomez has done little to suggest he's any good, and probably shouldn't be on the team. Grilli is on lockdown until the 9th inning. Melancon should be better than last year but it's not a given. Hughes struggled down the stretch last year. MATW is MATW. There's a lot of reason to be concerned once the starters leave the game. If Melancon, Hughes and MATW pitch well then things will be okay since those 3 will get the bulk of the meaningul innings and Gomez can pitch in blowouts until the team gives up on him for Morris. If one of those 3 struggle then we're going to see a lot of Leroux and that's not a good thing.

i think if you look at like Leroux and Gomez replace Cruz and Resop you might feel more positive about things...i mean you can't get worse than that right? And if they get Wilson to throw strikes, he could be an excellent lefty specialist coming in late in games.

ulf wrote:If the Pirates have done anything well, it's been putting together good bullpens. I'm not overly optimistic about it but we'll see.

I think they'll be okay once Liriano and Morton get back. That will move Locke and Sanchez out of the rotation and will help the bullpen. They also have Morris and McPherson, and Cole's arrival will push another pitcher into the bullpen. It may take a while to shake things out there until it is a functional pen.

If the Nationals aren't the best team on paper, I'd like to nominate the Cincinnati Reds, even though they're trying to dance in the outfield with three left feet. The lineup is mostly deep -- made worse by Dusty Baker's insistence on batting Zack Cozart second -- and the rotation and bullpen are both among the best in the league.

The St. Louis Cardinals aren't that far behind, short in the middle infield but deep in the outfield, rotation, and bullpen, where potential replacement starters Trevor Rosenthal and Joe Kelly will start the season.

I would have had the Brewers sub-.500 before they signed Kyle Lohse, and I still think they have a higher collapse potential than any of the other teams I've projected to have winning records, with a strong lineup but big questions in the bullpen and no great options if they have to replace a starter.

The Chicago Cubs are an unbalanced team, but I'm cautiously optimistic about their rotation; they could also deal Matt Garza or Alfonso Soriano midyear, making the team worse than this projection would indicate.

The Pittsburgh Pirates look like a mediocre offense with a very weak pitching staff, desperate for a big breakout from Starling Marte or Travis Snider, or a huge impact from Gerrit Cole midyear, none of which seems that likely from here.

The Pittsburgh Pirates look like a mediocre offense with a very weak pitching staff, desperate for a big breakout from Starling Marte or Travis Snider, or a huge impact from Gerrit Cole midyear, none of which seems that likely from here.

Can't say I disagree. The team hasn't added anyone of substance, they're looking for improvement strictly from who was on the roster last year. Doesn't sound like a recipe for success.

The Pittsburgh Pirates look like a mediocre offense with a very weak pitching staff, desperate for a big breakout from Starling Marte or Travis Snider, or a huge impact from Gerrit Cole midyear, none of which seems that likely from here.

Can't say I disagree. The team hasn't added anyone of substance, they're looking for improvement strictly from who was on the roster last year. Doesn't sound like a recipe for success.

improvement seems especially unlikely considering jones, pedro, walker, and mccutchen all had career years. for those guys, the amount of incremental improvement wont be enough.